Posted by: Ben Garbarek bio | email
OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - Kentucky's public education system may have dodged a bullet.
"We're not at full funding but we've fared better than most other state agencies," said Larry Vick, superintendent of Owensboro Public Schools.
Governor Steve Beshear told state agencies to prepare for a four percent budget cut, so public schools and universities were relieved when they were only asked to cut two percent.
"I think he realizes like most of us do that education is really an investment we can't afford to let falter even in poor economic times," Vick said.
But not everyone is feeling so fortunate.
"The reality of the cut is really that this is the third cut we've had this year," said Tom Shelton, superintendent of Daviess County Public Schools. "I think most people think that education has been spared."
Even though public schools in the Commonwealth are going to have another round of cuts, they say the fact that they weren't hit harder is a testament to how important education is in Kentucky.
"I think the Governor realizes this is an area where we have to invest," Vick said. "We don't have the percentage of college graduates in Kentucky that we need."
"Cutting education directly impacts the economy because every dollar you put into education specifically goes right back into the economy," Shelton said.
Some feel keeping money in education can help fix the economy.
"We believe education is economic development and when you cut education it's going to be a long-term cut, it's not a short-term fix to anything," he said.
But this may not be the last time money may be taken out of education.
"I don't expect this to be the last cut that we'll get," Shelton said. "The forecasts that we've heard while we were at our conferences was that fiscal year 2010 looks even worse than this year does."
